Package for transit tokens and the like



Nov. 15, 1966 M. SILVERMAN 3,285,397

Y PACKAGE FOR TRANSIT TOKENS AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 24, 1,964

FIG. 4 INVENTOR.

LOUISM. SILVERMAN ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3 285,397 PACKAGE FOR TRANSIT TOKENS AND THE LIKE Louis M. Silverman, Brooklyn, N.Y., assignor to Transitoke, Inc., Newark, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Sept. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 399,021 2 Claims. (Cl. 206.83)

This invention relates to a package for transit tokens and like circular disc elements.

An object of the invention is to provide a highly simplified and economical package which may be discarded after one use and which is adapted to bear advertising on its outer faces during use. 7

Another object is to provide a token package of a size convenient to be carried in a small purse or in the pocket of trousers, the package being sufficiently strong and durable to hold the tokens in a secure manner until all tokens have been used.

A very important object of the invention is to provide a token package having rows of spaced pockets adapted to receive the tokens or like disc elements directly from a simple delivery apparatus, after which a single closure flap on the package is simply folded over and adhesively secured to the package body portion to complete the package.

Transit companies and the like have long sought after a satisfactory token package but without complete success. The packages themselves have proven to be awkward and expensive and inconvenient to manipulate by the user. Additionally, the filling of most packages has proven to be a major problem. These and other problems have greatly retarded the adoption of token packages by the major city transit companies, which companies fully recognize the great advantage of packaged tokens if an entirely satisfactory economical package can be achieved. According to this invention and a companion invention relating to a delivery or filling apparatus, the requirements above-mentioned have been fully satisfied and the disad vantages of the prior art are believed to have been fully overcome by the provision of a token package which suits ideally the needs of the customer, the transit company and the employees who must handle and fill the packages.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following detailed description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a package embodying the invention prior to filling and closing and showing the same associated with a token delivery or filling device,

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the package after being filled with tokens and before closing and sealing,

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the package in the completed form after closing and sealing, and

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged transverse vertical section taken on line 4--4 of FIGURE 3.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention, attention is directed first to FIGURE 1, wherein the package to be filled with tokens 11 is shown resting upon the apron 12 of a delivery apparatus or filling device 13, forming no part of the present invention but forming the subject matter of a companion patent application executed concurrently herewith entitled, Apparatus for Filling Transit Token Packages or the Like, Louis Silverman, inventor.

In this application, it is sufficient to point out that the apparatus 13 has an opening 14 receiving the package 10 and positioning it beneath a reciprocatory slide 15 whose operation delivers the tokens 11 smoothly and accurately to the several pockets 16 of the package. After this simple 3,285,397 Patented Nov. 15, 1966 operation, the packages are moved from the apparatus 13 and quickly closed and sealed in a manner to be described. The package 10 is prefer-ably formed of paper and comprises a rectangular body portion or card 17 of any convenient thickness and preferably being relatively thin. Upon one side or half of the body portion 17 and on one face thereof is a filler strip or spacer 18 of paper or cardboard having a thickness approximating the thickness of a token 11 and preferably slightly in excess of this thickness, FIGURE 4. The strip 18 may be adhesively secured to the body portion 17 or may be integral therewith or attached to or built up thereon in any desired manner. Preferably, the entire top surface of the strip 18 is coated with a suitable pressure-sensitive adhesive, as shown.

As shown clearly in the drawings, the strip 18 covers one-half the area of the body portion 17, and this provides a foldable closure flap 19 on the other side thereof approximately equal in width to the strip 18. The strip 18 has two rows of back-to-back pockets or recesses 16 for the tokens 11 and these pockets are preferably spaced apart equidistantly in the rows. The present embodiment shows ten of the token pockets 16 in the package although this number may vary within the scope of the invention. Each pocket is substantially more than semi-circular to provide an open side 20 which is somewhat narrower than the full diameter of a token. This enables the pockets 16 to releasably hold the tokens therein when the package is closed and sealed.

Adjacent the inner row of pockets 16 and near the transverse center of the body portion 17, the flap 19 is provided with crescent-like cut-outs 21 whose arcs are substantially continuations of the peripheral edges of the pockets 16.

In order to complete the package after the depositing of the tokens therein, FIGURE 2, all that need be done is to fold the flap 19 over upon the adhesive coated strip 18 as indicated by the arrow in FIGURE 2 and then press the flap downwardly firmly with the fingers so that it Will adhere to the coating on the strip 18.

The completed package is shown in FIGURES 3 and 4. The adhesively secured flap 19 is now superimposed on the strip 18, having been folded at the transverse center of the body portion 17. The cut-outs 21 expose portions of the tokens 11 at one side of the package and the tokens at the opposite side project outwardly in a similar manner. The tokens 11 are held captive between the flap 19 and the underside of the body portion 17, within the circularly curved pocket 16, as shown. The arrangement allows the tokens to be withdrawn from opposite sides of the package with a slight pulling force by the fingers. The package is adequately strong to secure the tokens until they are all used, whereupon the package may be discarded.

As shown in FIGURE 3 at 22, one or both sides of the completed package may bear any desired printedadvertising indicia or other informational indicia.

The completed package is slender, rectangular and constitutes a structure which is less than twice as large as a conventional stick of chewing gum. It is lightweight, durable and convenient to carry in a pocket of clothing or in a purse.

It is thought that the advantages of the package and the construction thereof will now be fully apparent to those skilled in the art without the necessity for any further description.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A package for circular disc elements comprising a stantially coextensive therewith and having one edge near and extending along said fold line, said filler strip having a plurality of spaced pockets provided in one of its edges for receiving said disc elements, said pockets having circularly curved margins and mouths smaller than the diameters of the disc elements to be positioned therein, said openings in said first body portion being adjacently aligned with the pockets in the edge of the filler strip, a pressure-sensitive adhesive on the upper face of the filler strip, and said first body portion folded onto said second body portion having the filler strip mounted thereon to secure the parts in folded relation with the pockets substantially covered and wherein portions of the disc elements will be adapted to project beyond the edge of the package for grasping by the user.

2. The package of claim 1, wherein said filler strip is provided in another of its edges with at least one pocket means for receiving and retaining a disc element therein.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 429,752 6/1890 Camp 229-92.9 2,459,292 1/1949 Sherbondy 229-929 2,878,988 3/1959 Kryeske 229-929 3,193,091 7/ 1965 Storms 229-929 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

W. T. DIXSON, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A PACKAGE FOR CIRCULAR DISC ELEMENTS COMPRISING A SHEET OF SINGLE THICKNESS RELATIVELY STIFF MATERIAL HAVING A FIRST AND SECOND BODY PORTION AND HAVING A FOLD LINE SUBSTANTIALLY AT ITS TRANSVERSE CENTER, SAID FIRST BODY PORTION BEING READILY FOLDABLE OVER ONTO SAID SECOND BODY PORTION IN SUPERPOSED COVERING RELATION THERETO, SAID FIRST BODY PORTION HAVING A PLURALITY OF SPACED OPENINGS FORMED THERETHROUGH ALONG SAID LINE, A FILLER STRIP FIXEDLY MOUNTED UPON SAID SECOND BODY PORTION AND BEING SUBSTANTIALLY COEXTENSIVE THEREWITH AND HAVING ONE EDGE NEAR AND EXTENDING ALONG SAID FOLD LINE, SAID FILLER STRIP HAVING A PLURALITLY OF SPACED POCKETS PROVIDED IN ONE OF ITS EDGES FOR RECEIVING SAID DISC ELEMENTS, SAID POCKETS HAVING CIRCULARLY CURVED MARGINS AND MOUTHS SMALLER THAN THE DIAMETERS OF THE DISC ELEMENTS TO BE POSITIONED THEREIN, SAID OPENINGS IN SAID FIRST BODY PORTION BEING ADJACENTLY ALIGNED WITH THE POCKETS IN THE EDGE OF THE FILLER STRIP, A PRESSURE-SENSITIVE ADHESIVE ON THE UPPER FACE OF THE FILLER STRIP, AND SAID FIRST BODY PORTION FOLDED ONTO SAID SECOND BODY PORTION HAVING THE FILLER STRIP MOUNTED THEREON TO SECURE THE PARTS IN FOLDED RELATION WITH THE POCKETS SUBSTANTIALLY COVERED AND WHEREIN PORTIONS OF THE DISC ELEMENTS WILL BE ADAPTED TO PROJECT BEYOND THE EDGE OF THE PACKAGE FOR GRASPING BY THE USER. 